Electrical connector



May 5, 1959 M. BETH'EA ETAL 2,335,653

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR 1 Filed July 7, 1955 INVENTOILS, #44504 5477954 By0004 9, j/W/Zfl 177" VQANL/s United States Parent Ala, assignors toBethea Company Incorporated, a corporation of Alabama Application July7, 1955, Serial No. 520,524 2 Claims. (Cl. 339-243) This inventionrelates to a device for making connection to an electrical conductor andparticularly to a conductor while carrying an electrical charge and hasfor an object the provision of a device of the character designatedwhich is simple of design and easily installed with the usual switchingtools and which may be connected to, and disconnected from, withoutdisturbing main power lines.

A more specific object of our invention is to provide a connectorcomprised of two cooperating clamping jaws connected respectively to theopposite sides of a resilient stirrup whereby the connector may besnapped or sprung onto the conductor using an ordinary switch stick orhot line tool and which shall include means for clamping the two partsfirmly onto the conductor.

A still further object of our invention is to provide a connectorcomprised of two cooperating clamping jaws connected together with aresilient stirrup, the two jaws having oppositely inclined edge portionsproviding a V- shaped opening to receive an electrical conductor and beadapted to be forced apart to engage the conductor, one of said jawparts being provided with means to engage it with a switch stick wherebyto mount it on a conductor.

Briefly, our invention comprises a pair of cooperating clamping jawswhich are mounted one on each side, or leg, of a resilient stirrupwhereby they are held yieldingly in cooperating clamping relation. Theedges of the clamping members opposite the connection to the stirrup areflared outwardly to engage a conductor and one is provided with a ringor opening to receive a hot line tool, and upon the exercise of force bythe hot line tool the jaws may be forced apart and thus snapped onto theconductor. Clamping bolts pass through the jaws which, when tightened,draw them into tight engagement with the conductor. A tap ofi wire maybe secured to the stirrup before attaching the connector to the line.

A device embodying features of our invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view with parts broken away;

Fig. 3 is an end view looking in the direction of the arrows III-III ofFig. 1; and,

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the clamping jaws spreadapart by the insertion of an electrical conductor.

Referring to the drawing for a better understanding of our invention,our improved device comprises a pair of clamping jaws and 11 which maybe made from heat treated, high strength aluminum alloy where connectionis to be made to an aluminum conductor or from bronze where connectionis to be made to a copper conductor. Passing through the clamping jawsare clamping bolts 12 and 13 with nuts 14 and 16 which,

when tightened down, clamp the jaws firmly against a conductor 17 asshown in Fig. 3. The jaw 10 has provided on one side near the end a boss18 and the jaw 11 is provided with a similar boss 19 each of which isbored out to receive with a compressed fit the legs 21 and 22 of aresilient U-shaped stirrup 23. The legs 21 and 22, as shown in Fig. 3,when in clamping position are generally parallel and tend to hold thejaws 10 and 11 in engagement with the conductor 17 but as shown in Fig.4, when the device is being forced onto a conductor 17 the legs 21 and22 are caused to diverge at right angles to the bottom of the U. Beingresilient they force the jaws 10 and 11 back to the position shown inFig. 3 as soon as the conductor 17 is seated. The stirrup 23 ispreferably made of hard drawn copper or what is known in the trade as28F aluminum." Being resilient, it serves to hold the jaws yieldingly incooperating relation to receive the conductor 17.

The edges of the jaws 10 and 11, opposite the side to which the stirrup23 is connected, are provided with outwardly flaring portions 24 and 26.The edge 24 is also provided with an extension or boss 25 having anopening 27 therein forming a lifting ring which is adapted to receive ahot line tool such as a switch stick 28, indicated in dotted lines inFig. 4 of the drawing. Adjacent the fiaring portions 24 and 26 the jawsare provided with recesses 29 and 30 to receive the conductor 17. Tofacilitate tightening while attaching the device to a hot line the nuts14 and 16 on the bolts 12 and 13 are placed on the same side as thelifting ring 25.

In order to prevent relative endwise motion of the jaws 10 and 11, thejaw 10 is provided with bosses 31 and 32 which interfit in complementaryrecesses 33 and 34 which are provided in the jaw members 11. The jaw 11is also provided with a ridge 38 along its lower side which bearsagainst a complementary recess 39 in the jaw 10 when the nuts 14 and 16are tightened on the bolts 12 and 13.

In Order to place the device upon a conductor carrying an electricalcharge, the switch stick 28 is inserted in the hole 27, the nuts 14 and16 are slacked off on the bolts 12 and 13 and the device is pushedagainst the conductor as shown in Fig. 4 to spring the jaws apart. Afterthis has been done, the nuts 14 and 16 are tightened down to bring thejaws into tight engagement with the conductor.

The line may be tapped in the usual way by attaching a conductor 36 tothe stirrup 23 by means of a clamp 37 which may be any of the manyavailable types suitable.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that we have devised an improvedelectrical connector which is simple of design, economical ofmanufacture, and one which may be readily connected to an electricalconductor by means of the usual hot line tools.

While we have shown our invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and modifications without departing from the spiritthereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall beplaced thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In a clamping device for connecting to an electrical conductor, apair of relatively Wide cooperating clamping jaws having opposedrecesses located adjacent the upper edges of said jaws when the clamp isplaced in service and adapted to receive the conductor therein, aresilient generally U-shaped stirrup having one leg rigidly connected toone of said jaws at one side thereof and the other leg connected to theother jaw at the other side thereof with the bottom of the U extendingin a direction generally parallel to the conductor when placed in theclamp, said legs being bent outwardly away from each other in adirection generally at right angles to the bottom of the U when force isexerted against said jaws in an outward direction generallyperpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the conductor and adapted tourge the jaws toward each other in clamping relation, an outwardlyflaring portion on each of the jaws along the upper edge portionsthereof and disposed to receive the conductor and to be spread apart byexercise of force, clamping bolts extending through the clamping jawsbelow the opposed recesses therein in a direction generally at rightangles to the longitudinal axis of the conductor, a lifting ring on theupper edge of one of the outwardly flaring portions, and nuts on saidbolts adjacent the jaw on which the lifting ring is disposed whereby thejaws may be tightened in contact with the conductor on the same side ofthe clamp as the lifting ring.

2. In a hot line clamp for connecting to an electrical conductor, a pairof relatively wide cooperating jaws each comprising a generallyrectangular member, there being coacting conductor receiving seats inthe opposed faces of the jaws located near the upper edges of said jawswhen the clamp is placed in service, bolt means extending through andadjustably securing the jaws to each other and extending in a directiongenerally at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the conductor,projecting bosses depending from the oppositely disposed lower cornersof the jaws remote from the conductor seats, a generally U-shapedresilient stirrup having its ends inserted one in each of the saidbosses with the bottom of the U extending in a direction generallyparallel to a conductor in the clamp when placed in service, whereby thejaws are urged yieldingly in contact with the conductor by the stirrup,and outwardly flaring conductor guide portions along the upper edgeportions of the jaws whereby the clamp may be snapped over the conductorby forcing the jaws apart in a direction at right angles to the bottomof the U.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,172,604 Johnson Feb. 22, 1916 1,366,799 Hartung Jan. 25, 19211,493,517 Bush May 13, 1924 1,500,499 Johnson July 8, 1924-

